Standard 90.1-2007 Established as National Reference Standard for Federal, Commercial Buildings by DOE

Commercial buildings, including federal and high-rise residential buildings, must now meet requirements in ASHRAE/IESNA’s 2007 energy efficiency standard, under recent rulings issued by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) that finds the standard saves more energy than the 2004 version.ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, has been established by the DOE as the commercial building reference standard for state building energy codes under the federal Energy Conservation and Production Act. As a result, states are required to certify by July 20, 2013, that they have reviewed and updated the provisions of their commercial building code regarding energy efficiency, including a demonstration that the provisions of their commercial building codes regarding energy efficiency meet or exceed 90.1-2007.

The DOE also has issued a rule that requires new federal buildings, for which the design for construction begins on or after October 11, 2012, to meet the requirements of 90.1-2007.

Prior to the new rules, federal and commercial buildings had to meet requirements in the 2004 standard.

“We are pleased with this recognition that the 2007 standard saves more energy than the 2004 standard, thereby pushing the marketplace toward more energy efficient buildings,” ASHRAE President Ron Jarnagin said. “ASHRAE continues to build on the foundation of efficiency contained in Standard 90.1. We recently published the 2010 version of the standard, which results in more than 30% energy savings over the 2004 version. We currently are working on the 2013 standard, with a renewed focus on increasing the stringency to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption.”

The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), cosponsor of the 90.1 standard, is also pleased with the DOE’s favorable determination on the energy savings achieved in 90.1-2007, according to Rita Harrold, IES director of technology.

“As ASHRAE President Ron Jarnagin indicates, the work is ongoing through the dedication and expertise of voluntary consensus committee members from both organizations who continue to meet the challenge of developing additional requirements for energy efficient buildings,” Harrold said.

“The DOE has determined that the quantitative analysis of the energy consumption of buildings built to Standard 90.1-2007, as compared to buildings built to Standard 90.1-2004, indicates national source energy savings of approximately 3.9% of commercial building consumption,” according to the DOE. “Additionally, DOE has determined site energy savings are estimated to be approximately 4.6%.”

The DOE noted that the newer version of the standard contained 11 positive impacts on energy efficiency. These impacts included changes made through the public review process in which users of the standard comment and offer guidance on proposed requirements. The positive impacts include:

Increased requirements for building vestibules;

removal of data processing centers and hotel rooms from exceptions to HVAC

Some 30% energy savings can be achieved using the 2010 version of Standard 90.1 vs. the 2004 standard. Without plug loads, site energy savings are 32.6% and energy cost savings 30.1%. Including plug loads, the site energy savings are estimated at 25.5% and energy cost savings 24%.

Since being developed in response to the energy crisis in the 1970s, Standard 90.1 now influences building designs worldwide. It has become the basis for building codes, and the standard for building design and construction throughout the United States.

ASHRAE and IES publish a revised version of the standard every three years. ASHRAE and IES currently are working on the 2013 standard, having published the 2010 last year.

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